Natural Foodie: For cereal, natural may not be as natural as you think

The word “natural” is a favorite among food marketers. Unfortunately, the term is totally meaningless and, according to a recent report, often deceptive.

The Cornucopia Institute, a nonprofit research organization focused on sustainable and organic farming, released a report last month titled “Cereal Crimes: How ‘Natural’ Claims Deceive Consumers and Undermine the Organic Label — A Look Down the Cereal and Granola Aisle.”

Additional Photos

The "Cereal Crimes" report from the Cornucopia Institute calls attention to cereal marketing techniques that promote "natural," a meaningless marketing term, at the expense of certified organic. Courtesy photos

Maine-based Grandy Oats is praised in the "Cereal Crimes" report for its unwavering commitment to organic ingredients and its cost, which is lower than non-organic granola competitors.

Citing research that shows consumers demonstrate an affinity for the word “natural” over “organic” (which is a legal term backed by third-party certification), the report outlines how cereal marketers use this knowledge to their advantage while shortchanging consumers.

The report points out that certified organic cereals must be free from genetically modified ingredients, synthetic pesticides and petrochemical-based processing techniques. However, cereals claiming to be natural can and often do use “dangerous pesticides, genetically engineered crops, fumigants, solvents and toxic processing aids.”

One surprising finding of the study is that cereals produced using cheaper conventional ingredients are often more expensive than organic competitors. One of the few companies praised in the report is Maine granola maker Grandy Oats.

“The presumably tremendous increased profit margin by Kellogg, which enjoys both lower costs of raw materials for its conventional ingredients and economies of sale in manufacturing and distribution, could easily be interpreted as price gouging.”

Kellogg did not respond to requests for comment.

“It’s nice when you get good PR for being honest,” said Aaron Anker, chief granola officer for Brownfield-based Grandy Oats. “We’ve always tried to have integrity. It’s not just the ingredients, but even the price we charge.”

Anker said while many granola companies have switched to using one-quarter cup as the serving size on the nutrition label to make their products appear to be lower in calories, Grandy Oats has stuck with the half-cup size.

The report calls attention to Peace Cereal, which is owned by Hearthside Food Solutions. The brand started out as an all-organic cereal company, but in 2008 Peace Cereal switched to less expensive, non-organic ingredients without lowering its prices, alerting retailers or changing its bar code. Hearthside Food Solutions also did not respond to requests for comment in this article.

The report also shows that many previously organic brands have begun using conventionally grown ingredients. For example, 100 percent of Annie’s Homegrown products were certified organic in 2007. Today, only 20 percent contain organic ingredients. Likewise, Barbara’s Bakery produced 60 percent of its products using organic ingredients in 2007. Today, only 20 percent of its products use organic ingredients.

“I personally think it’s because when a lot of these companies become owned by other entities or publicly traded, they become beholden to investors rather than core values,” Anker said.

Most of the brands cited in the report can be found in health food stores or in the health food sections of conventional grocery stores. One thing health food shoppers might assume is that the products they buy are free from genetically modified ingredients. The report shows this isn’t always the case.

“Because it is Whole Foods Market’s preference to source organic grocery products, the conventional product was discontinued and replaced with organic cereal,” spokesperson Heather McCready said in a statement.

The only way to guarantee that a product is free from genetically modifed ingredients is to buy certified organic.

Shoppers are apparently changing their buying habits in reaction to the report.

“We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of emails from consumers who said they’ve trusted these companies and are really disturbed” by the report, said Mark Kastel, co-founder of the Cornucopia Institute.

Those who have emailed the organization have said they will now only buy organic cereals. In addition, Kastel said he’s heard from some of the companies mentioned in the report that said they plan to “respond in some way.”

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